Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Well, I've had a good day, if you don't count an hour's worth of ironing!

I bought a cute new summer/spring sweater at a local boutique, received my order from Scarlett Lime, in the mail, and here it sits on my crowded work table.

Inside were some rubber stamps I ordered.......

I took a few minutes to play with the roller and one of the stamps. FUN! Can hardly wait to experiment some more with that "baby".

But, this was the big surprise.......also, in today's mail was my newest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors and here is why I was surprised....

In early 2010, I e-mailed Cloth, Paper, Scissors to ask permission to use the photo of a dog they had in one of their ads. Which, they promptly gave me. I did the collage, showed it at the art center I belong to and brought it home and hung it on the wall. End of story!

Until a couple months ago, I got to thinking I should e-mail them a photo of the piece I did using their dog picture and send a little thank you, which I did.

So, I'm thumbing through my new magazine and what should appear on page 8?

My art work and letter! Here is the photo of my original art.......

I had been inspired by a CPS article written by Lydia Bee to try the dog collage after I had done this collage of our cat. Here's that piece.

No matter what....it is a pretty big thrill to see your work in print, I was pleased and excited. I have, also, had another photo in CPS. It was of a piece of jewelry I made when I participated in a reader challenge "Pendant Swap".

Thanks Cloth, Paper, Scissors for the use of the photo and for publishing a your inspiring magazine. I've gotten some great ideas from you!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Everybody knows I love the combo of the "Georgia Blue" Creeping Speedwell and the yellow-green of sedum Angelica that borders my front yard.......... but when you throw in these sweet little red beauties, it makes my heart sing!

These little beauties are about six inches tall and are called Tulip Hager 'Little Beauty". Their cherry red petals surround a blue center.

After months of cold, wet weather we are having a week of sunshine, still cool but sunshine....we'll take it.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Another journal page completed.....at least, I left some room to write on one page. This journal has seen many a metamorphosis since January 1 of this year. It started out to be a garden journal, went to a daily journal, veered off to art journal and, now, I'm trying to drag it back to something closer to it origins.....a daily journal.

I just signed up to do my first altered book round robin, and I'm excited, so excited I've started working on it and have the cover done.

Actually, this is the cover of another book and will be attached to the book that is being altered. My theme is: Alphabet letters and numbers, thus the clock numbers and the note to the teacher.

We put our children into the hands of our teachers........

to teach them their letters and their numbers. Maybe, some parents need to be more involved, especially, in this day and age of cut backs and crowded class rooms.

Briefly, we went to a flea market today and I so excited about my great finds......I'm going to force you to look at them, too! te he

Five tin types in cases, broken cases, but cases all of them FIVE bucks! The six porcelain pocket watch faces were not a steal, but a fair price at 3 for $10. All of these will be great for jewelry making or assemblages.

This is a postcard souvenir folder of my "mother land", I was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., Pierre is the capital (but you knew that). Photos are from the early 1900s, I have not been to the mid-west in years, I wonder how many of the buildings still remain. The postcards have held up well for their age and will make great art "fodder"! Oh, the postcard was a "buck".

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I like being among people who aren't afraid to share their messes! It's what makes Wednesday so much fun....I show you my messy worktable if you show me yours! It's time to join Julie and company at What's On Your Worktable Wednesday because I know I can sure make one heck of a mess when I'm working/playing in my studio.

This week has been a productive one for me......I wish they could all be! So here is the mess......................

And this is the beginning of one project......

This is the finished journal page and some close-ups..........

Well, that was fun......and I hope you can read it. It says "age is just a number so pick one and stick with it"! Certainly not my original message BUT it is my motto, 'cause I'm 49 ya' know....that's a number I like!! Well, I like 39 better but I don't want to stretch it too far, hehe!

After the journal pages, I moved on to this........

This was inspired by the journal page I shared HERE last week. I tried it again, this time on an 8 x 10" canvas with acrylic paints, sprays, stencil and stamps.

And then there is this........what do you think? Like it this way.........OR with the addition of the word hope, which relates to the words written around the silhouette?

It might be the wings are too hooky! It's O.K., really, let me know what you think. I need to add something to the upper right hand corner, too. OH MY, the self criticism never ends!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

How warmly you welcomed me last week....I haven't had time to personally thank everyone, but I so appreciated your gracious comments.

So, here is what's on my work desk this Wednesday.

Last week, I shared my VERY tidy work space.....one of the things I did, that I thought would keep it tidy, was cover the area with some wide paper. Turns out......that's a handy tool......I experimented on it.......

I used it to plan and sketch out ideas........

And, best of all, my granddaughter left a sweet note on it! You can bet, this piece of paper will end up in my journal.

Speaking of journals, I just completed another page in mine and added some of the envelopes, from the ABC Envie Swap, that I received last month.

With the brief glimpses of sunshine came a "small windows of opportunity" to work out in the yard......so, that has been my priority this past week. Art work was neglected. Some how, I like to think I can out smart the weeds if I get a head start on removing them.....yeah, right! I try.

It rained again, all day, yesterday so, I'm back inside to work on my journal....here are the newly completed pages!

This was a fun page to do......gesso first, wash of aqua, then squeezed some acrylic paint directly onto the page and spread with a credit card, stamped with a piece of bubble-wrap with white gesso and some yellow paint. Then I stamped with the bird stamp I carved....I outlined one bird, but I think I will go in and outline the others, as well. I cut out the tree trunk...used it as a stencil on the left hand page, then glued the cut out part onto the right hand side of the page.....finished off with some rub-ons and a little graphite pencil. Woo Hoo, fun!

This photo was taken at a different angle, laying flat, and more direct light.

I shared the envelopes I had received in a swap, recently on my blog, here is how I am preserving the ones I received. I journal in this book everyday..saving these mini-pieces of art in my journal preserves them as special reminders of the artists who have shared a part of themselves with me.

The envelope with the bird was created by Bridgette........

the cool fingernails with "bling" came from Jeanene.

I hope you are finding time to be creative! Thanks for stopping by, let me know you were here with a comment.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The ultimate in green, up cycling........a low fence that is made entirely from the branches that were pruned off of the apple tree this spring, oh, and did I mention FREE.

This was a very spur of the moment project, I just wanted to create a detour for the cats and the dog around this flower bed. For those who have not seen these little fences before, they are made like a basket, simply push the thicker twigs that will become the base into the ground and weave long thinner branches through the uprights. It makes for an amazingly sturdy fence, or divider, that will last two or three years. Mine is only about 20" tall....we have a short dog!It will look better when a few more plants come up and fill in the space.

In other parts of the yard....I love the look of the "Georgia Blue" Creeping Speedwell and yellow green Angelica Sedum that line the sidewalk in front of our house.

Speedwell (Veronica peduncularis) makes a great groundcover that starts blooming in March and, with very little water, goes all summer. It like full to part sun and grows in zone 6 to 8.